Chapter 136
The silence gradually turned into a commotion—when Rose also cautiously emerged from the elevator.
What are a musician and a young lady from a commoner family doing here?
Hebe paid no attention to their stares and went straight to the sailors who were distributing dinner to ask about Old Yule.
Dinner in third class consisted of thumb-sized biscuits, thin porridge, and cheese—barely anything special.
Hebe found Old Yule's place without much trouble. Normally, sailors' quarters are for four people, but Old Yule had a double room because he was also responsible for taking care of the oysters that were harvested.
When Hebe knocked on Old Yule's door, the latter was cleaning the oyster shells with a knife in the dim light.
Upon seeing that it was Hebe, Old Yule was somewhat flustered and at a loss.
The only connection he could think of between himself and a musician was those poor oysters.
Hebe gestured for Rose to come to the door, his gaze sweeping over the oyster barrels on the ground.
"I am a musician." Hebe took off her black and red gloves, revealing her slender and well-proportioned hands. "Unfortunately, I possess a melody that allows me to communicate with animals."
"Ah!" Rose exclaimed from behind.
"So, you want to talk to... talk to oysters?"
Old Yule was still confused, was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground. He never expected that a musician would come to question the oyster.
Hebe knew from Old Yule's reaction that he had misunderstood.
However, she did not explain further. Instead, she took off the "Cross Sword" from her waist, held it in her left hand, and then immersed her right hand, which had been ungloved, in the water, pressing it against the surface of the oyster shell.
The water rippled and tinkled.
On the surface, Hebe pretended to play music, but in reality, he was secretly communicating with Medea.
"Didn't you say that an oyster told you those messages?" Hebe asked. "Can you still contact that oyster? It couldn't have been eaten by someone in the meantime, could it?"
"No, no. That oyster is strange," Medea replied. "I'm sure it's still alive, but its voice is very soft and faint... Oh, I've found it. It's on your left."
Hebe then put her hand into the oyster bucket on the left.
When the fingers touch the oyster shell, Hebe can feel a slight buzzing sound.
Hebe twitched the corner of her mouth: Is this Oyster Language?
It didn't matter that she couldn't understand; Medea understood perfectly and provided simultaneous translation for Hebe: "It's the oyster we're looking for... uh, it says it used to be a human named Jack."
Hebe's heart skipped a beat, and her gaze involuntarily drifted to the curious Rose, then to the uneasy Old Yule.
Who would have thought that Jack, the male protagonist of Titanic, would become an oyster sold by Uncle Jules?
This is too much... Hebe couldn't find the right words to describe it.
The musician pulled his hands out of the water, wiped them with a soft cloth, and put his gloves back on.
How much is this bucket of oysters?
"No, it's free, you can take it!" Jules stammered.
To Hebe's surprise, Rose quoted the price of the oyster barrel.
This kid, maybe I could use him as a calculator... Hebe thought.
She took out several dozen small-denomination silver coins and placed them in Jules' palm.
It wasn't that Hebe didn't have larger denomination gold coins, but rather that doing so would be tantamount to sending Old Yule to his death.
If Hebe had given the gold coin to Old Yule, the latter might not have even lived to see the Titanic sink.
Hebe, carrying the oyster bucket, once again walked through the narrow, crowded aisle under the strange stares of the third-class passengers.
Rose followed closely behind her, afraid that Hebe would disappear from her sight in the blink of an eye.
Just before climbing the ladder to second class, Hebe suddenly turned around and looked at Rose.
Her gaze was deep and scrutinizing as it fell upon Rose, causing the latter to feel weak all over in an instant. She could only lean against the cabin, using the dim light to conceal the strange sensation in her body.
"Ah... Miss Rose." Hebe tapped his fingers on the cabin floor. "Having personally experienced a third-class 'tour,' do you have any particular thoughts?"
"I... I can't explain it." Rose hesitated and shook her head. "I feel, I feel my body is resisting the third-class cabin where people live in poverty, backwardness, and the lower classes, but my heart is filled with joy... I feel like I'm somewhat familiar with the third-class cabin, but I can't quite put my finger on where that familiarity comes from."
"Just as I thought," Hebe thought to herself.
But Hebe didn't make any statement; she simply stretched out her hand and wrote a protective charm in Sacred Script in the air.
Egypt Sacred Script remains the most effective ancient script known to the Hebe to date.
It is perfect for writing incantations.
[To protect one's life, avert death, and prolong life, it is as urgent as the decree of the Heavenly Fox.]
The protective charm landed silently on Rose.
The latter is unaware of the changes that have occurred within him.
"To put it another way... Miss Rose, do you still wish to marry your fiancé?" Hebe asked again. "Although we haven't known each other for long, I can see your personality."
"I don't know," Rose replied, sounding somewhat conflicted and bewildered.
Hebe smiled silently.
That's just how things are; many decisions involving the future can't be made so easily.
That is why Joan of Arc, who could so readily ignite her own achievements, was so captivating.
"It's alright, go get some sleep," Hebe said to Rose. "You'll probably figure this out once you get off the ship."
210 Whose Holy Grail Ceremony
As night deepened, Hebe returned to her spacious and comfortable bedroom with a bucket full of oysters.
She reached out and took the Oyster Jack out of the bucket and placed it on the table.
Then they took two more oysters from the bucket, pried open the shells, and ate and chatted.
This should be quite a deterrent for oysters.
With Medea's simultaneous interpretation, Hebe managed to speak with Oyster Jack.
"Rose, my Rose ..." Jack said, heartbroken. "Why has she forgotten me? She's so..."
Hebe raised an eyebrow. "Don't hide it, tell me in detail."
Her conjecture seems to be the truth of the matter that was deliberately concealed.
A few minutes later, Hebe, having finished her conversation, let out a long sigh and tossed the nearly thirsty Oyster Jack back into the bucket.
The oyster fell into the water with a splash and then sank to the bottom with a gurgling sound.
Hebe chuckled, placing her hand on the Cross Sword: "What else can I say?"
Human sacrifice, offerings, power, rituals, prophecies... these are nothing more than countless repetitions of the same mistakes throughout history.
Oyster Jack was once a human.
The Titanic sank more than once.
All of this stemmed from the prophecy of the Prophetess Sibyl.
The Prophetess Sibyl once said to the Philosopher King Remus:
Your kingdom will be great, your children will be many, your words will be heard, and Atlantis will prosper on the high seas, above all the waters, for it is the only city.
However, if you rise to power by this, you will surely perish by it.
The day of judgment will come. On that day, the sky will be dark, the clouds will be gloomy, blood will fill the Vast Sea, and the world will turn to ashes... The earth will collapse overnight, cities will fall into deep water, and glory and happiness will be nowhere to be found.
This is an ancient prophecy, a curse that has plagued Atlantis for thousands of years, and a dark cloud that will never be dispelled from the Pavilion Great Palace.
Therefore, since ancient times, the citizens of Ys have been exploring ways to break free from their predetermined fate, and sacrifice is one such attempt.
This is a ritual, pointing to pearls and the Holy Grail —of course, the citizens of Ys do not know who they are worshipping.
To date, the Titanic has sunk four times.
In one of the failed ceremonies, the family of the citizen presiding over the ceremony, along with their fiefdom, was submerged by an angry tsunami—while the civilians on the island "just happened" to be unharmed.
The remaining three times, each time brought a generous reward. These included elixirs and secret formulas to prolong life and preserve youth; extraordinary powers to drink fresh blood and consume human flesh; and methods to increase fertility and improve health...
Hebe deduced that the failed ritual was likely due to a "telephone call" being made to Pearl, the June Archon; while the remaining rituals were a great success because the Holy Grail welcomed the sacrifice.
The Holy Grail only requires "sacrifice," not whose "sacrifice" it is—it is best to sacrifice oneself, but the sacrifice of others is also acceptable.
The Holy Grail also values the quality and quantity of sacrifice; only a sufficient amount of blood can make the taste linger.
In other words, the Holy Grail enjoys experiencing the complexities of emotions, the pain of separation and death, and the indescribable sincerity of true feelings. It rejoices in all sacrifices and redemptions that arise from these emotions.
Therefore, choosing the Titanic as the stage for the sacrifice was most appropriate, as the tragic love story of Jack and Rose, involving separation and death, had been staged many times before.
So here's the question: as the protagonist of the last sacrifice, why did Jack know Rose, and why did he turn into an oyster?
The answer is simple: the Randolph family, behind Rose and her fiancé Carl, received a substantial reward in the last sacrifice.
Therefore, after erasing Rose's memory, they once again brought the Titanic Fifth Generation to attempt to replicate the fourth ritual.
As the protagonist of the fourth ritual, Jack, due to the heavy and tragic sacrifice he made, was transformed into an oyster under the strong influence of the Holy Grail.
He was pulled out of the water by the old sailor Jules in the form of an oyster, thus appearing before Hebe and revealing the truth about this terrible sacrificial ritual.
"It seems this is indeed part of Eris's plan," Hebe concluded. "The prophet 'Sybil'? Ha, perhaps this is His true form in this Lostbelt? It does fit His identity as a prophet who spreads chaos and reveals the end times."
Hebe didn't think this was a trap that Eris had deliberately set for her.
Ultimately, after so many years of management by Eris, Atlantis itself had long since taken on His form.
Perhaps this is one of the perverse pleasures that Eris wanted to see.
The Holy Grail's attitude is even more interesting.
He both reveled in this perverse pleasure and used it to subtly reveal the origins and details of this sacrificial ritual.
While it appeared that He and Eris were engaging in a thrilling combination attack, He was actually revealing his true intentions to Hebe...
"Well then, we'll see tonight." Hebe glanced at the oysters bubbling in the bucket.
Rose tossed and turned in her soft, comfortable bed, unable to fall asleep.
It wasn't just what Hebe said to her, but also the strange look her fiancé Carl gave her when she returned to first class.
That gaze was aggressive, filled with an indescribable desire—more like an appetite than a possessive desire for the body.
Just like my own appetite for oysters.
"Sleep well, Rose, sleep well." She remembered her fiancé's words and felt increasingly uneasy.
Fragments of memories gradually began to surface in her mind: she and another man, whose face was indistinct, stood embracing at the end of the deck; she wore an expensive and beautiful necklace, while the man was devoutly and meticulously sketching on the canvas with his brush... These memories were like a dream.
In an instant, she "saw" her fiancé standing at the end of the corridor, wiping the drool that kept dripping from the corner of his mouth with a white handkerchief.
The lights flickered, making the entire corridor alternate between light and darkness, while her fiancé walked with the gait of a zombie. Each flicker of the lights seemed to propel him forward several meters like a fast-forwarded film.
After several flashes of light, her fiancé was already standing at the door of her bedroom, his handkerchief soaked with saliva and lying on the ground.
Her fiancé, Carl, licked his lips. "Just a little, just a tiny bit. The musician won't notice... Oh, I can't wait any longer. After this ceremony, my dear Rose, we will be completely one... But before that, before that—"
He silently pushed open the door and stood by Rose's bedside.
Rose opened her eyes, her breathing almost stopped.
She realized it was just a dream, and her pajamas were soaked with cold sweat.
The moment she turned over, she saw her fiancé standing by her bedside with his eyes wide open and drooling!
The foul-smelling, hungry saliva had already soaked the edge of the bed.
"Ah!!!"
Rose screamed in pain, and Carl could no longer contain his impulse and pounced on his sweet and delicious fiancée.
Just as his fingers were about to touch his skin, a protective incantation written in Sacred Script suddenly pierced his eyes.
A majestic voice rang in his ears like a resounding bell.
[Urgent as Heavenly Fox decree!]